TED TV: Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

Friday morning, I toured a potential elementary school for my daughter. I was really blown away by the colorful monuments of creativity displayed along the hallways — masks, poems, stories, t-shirt designs, etc. for as far as the eye could see. They were very beautiful and a stark contrast to the plain hallways of our adult, sophisticated offices.

While I walked the hallways admiring the “masterpieces”, the word “magical” came to mind. It has been so long since I was in elementary school, that I had forgotten what a magical place elementary school can be…a place where you’re encouraged to tap into your imagination and create something unique, develop your talents, compete in contests and begin to understand how your talents are valuable to the world.

Later that same day, I coincidentally stumbled upon this TED video of Sir Ken Robinson talking about kids’ creativity and criticizing schools for not allowing kids to foster their creativity. Most of the video plays out like a stand-up comic routine, but in a brief serious moment, Robinson says, “our education system has mined our minds in the way that we strip mine the Earth for a particular commodity….We have to re-think the fundamental principles in which we are educating our children.” (18:13) And in essence, get back to encouraging them to use their creativity to discover value.